Canadians in Scandinavia

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Gutan at Xtratime and Stian Stryni at Vs for headsup and translation

Canadian goalie ready

http://www.nordlys.no/sporten/til-ma...cle1828067.ece

Tromso IL has already found a replacement for Lars Hirschfeld. Today TIL came to an agreement with Canadian national goalie Kenny Stamatopoulos (26), who tonight is playing for Canada against Luxembourg.

We have made an oral agreement on a 3-years contract, confirms Tore Rismo in TIL to Nordlys.

Is Kenny better than Lars?

Impossible to say. Of course he keeps a good standard. We have been keeping an eye on him for a while and have good recommendations, says Rismo.

TIL is, according to Rismo, in agreement with the Swedish club Enkoping about the transfer. Kenny Stamatopoulos was last season on loan to Bodens BK in the Swedish second highest level. He, as Lars, has two passports. (Greek-Canadian)

[Joe MacCarthy]

Looks like Ali Gerba has signed with Sweden's biggest club AIK, recently promoted back to the top tier. His previous team Sundsvall was relegated from the top tier.

http://www.aik.se/fotboll/aikindex.h...1116gerba.html

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Stian Stryni at Vs for translation

New TIL goalie from Canada


Kenny Stamatopoulos

TIL has today come to an oral agreement with Kenny who tonight will play for Canada against Luxembourg. Patrice and Stephen will also join him.

A keeper with good range and great basis. We have studied him on video, and are pretty safe with his qualities, says TIL keeper trainer Kjetil Tidemandsen.

The Canadian, who also has a Greek passport, was last season on loan to Bodens BK from Enkoping. In Bodens he was a teammate of former TIL player Espen Minde.

Minde confirms that TIL has a new good keeper on the team. He states that Kenny may challenge injured Knut Borch.

A very good keeper. He will without doubt challenge Knut, says Minde.

Bodens was relegated from the Swedish Superettan (2nd level)

But he is very good. Tall, swift and good with his feet, Minde adds.

Hirschfeld replaced
http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=296910

Tromsø IL has already the replacement ready after Canadian Lars Hirschfeld (27) left Alfheim to join Rosenborg and Lerkendal yesterday.

TIL management confirms to VG that Hirschfeld's rival as Canada's national keeper, Kenny Stamatopoulos (26), has orally agreed on a 3-year contract with the club. Only the medical test is left, before everything is set.

Stamatopoulos (190 cm/82 kg) arrives from the Swedish club Enkoping, and has been out on loan this season to Bodens BK. He also has a Greek passport, and thus is not hampered by the restrictions on Norwegian clubs to only utilize two players in the field (or on the bench in total) from countries outside the EU zone.

Hirschfeld out - Stamatopoulos in
http://www.til.no/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2127

It wasn't many hours after Lars Hirschfeld said no to TIL before the replacement was ready.

Kenny Stamatopoulos is the name of TIL's new keeper. Tonight he guards the Canadian goal in the friendly against Luxembourg. He is competing with Greg Sutton and Lars Hirschfeld for the first spot on Canada's national team.

The two last matches Stamatopoulos has been the first choice. (my note: I believe that is because Lars has said no, against Spain because he wanted to concentrate on his club play and against Luxembourg because of an injury)

Next season he will compete with Knut Borch for the first spot in Tromsø.

He has played the last years in Enkoping and Bodens in Sweden.

He has double nationality - Greek and Canadian

Born in 1979
190 cm, 83 kg

He is inexpensive - both the investment and on the pay roll.

He has a 3-year agreement with TIL - though he must pass the medical test.

Comments from the management and players on the new guy:

Tore Rismo, adm. leader of "sports":
A very good solution. He is a national keeper for Canada. We have many positive references, and have done thorough research. We here get a good keeper who doesn't cost us much. This gives us a good and safe depth cover for the keeper position next season. (TIL now have three keepers). He has potential to develop.

Kjetil Tidemandsen, keeper trainer:
Have studied him on video, among others in the away match against Spain recently. Offensive, good foot, good field work. Exciting stuff.

Espen Minde, teammate in Bodens:
A great keeper. Nice guy, good mood, and very difficult to score goals on.

Patrice Bernier, teammate on the national team.
He has been schooled well in Canada, without a doubt ready for the Tippeliga.

This looks good - and a wittily Tore Rismo ends with a greeting to his "friend", Rosenborg coach Per Mathias Høgmo:

The cooperation with Rosenborg looks to work splendid, Rosenborg gets Canada's second choice from us, while we pick up Canada's first choice...

[Joe MacCarthy]

Improving the midfield and the attack
By Endre Bakken, 18 November 2005, 14:24
http://www.rosenborg.info/article/4033

Last Tuesday the Norwegian transfer market opened and Hirschfeld was the first player to be bought. Now the hunt for players continues at Rosenborg.

ON THE LOOKOUT: Rune Bratseth is currently evaluating several players these days.

RBK has already secured their first improvement before the season of 2006 commences. Rune Bratseth is very happy with Hirschfeld's transfer and thinks that he is going to be a worthy challenger to current main goalie Espen Johnsen.

"We needed two good goalkeepers. We needed someone to make sure there is always great competition for the role of goalie, to make sure they are always doing their utmost. Espen has also been struggling with various injuries, and that was another reason to get another good goalie," the director of sports told Rosenborg Web.

"Having two such good goalies will also involve some difficulties, but that's just the way it is. If a club is going to stay at the top and try to get even further, it has to risk something," Bratseth explains.

The backmost part of the team has been ameliorated. Now the attack needs to be bettered.

"The midfield and the attack will undergo a couple of changes. Something is going to happen, but if it is one, two or even three players that are going to arrive we just don't know at this moment."

"What kind of players are you looking for?"

"If we are going to buy a new striker, it must be because he has got something we are lacking. He must have a special skill we do not currently have and he must really improve the team. The same goes for a midfielder, if we decide to get one. It is important that he will be able to instantly join and improve the the starting eleven," Rune Bratseth said.

"Regarding a new midfielder: Is it first and foremost a central midfielder you want?"

"No, we are mostly looking for someone who will be able to take on several roles on the midfield, not neccesarily just one. But it might be that we first and foremost should look for someone with defensive qualities."

"How important is age when it comes to buying new players?"

"It matters greatly, but first and foremost they have to be good enough. We should be looking to improve Rosenborg in 2006. There is no point in buying a player that might become good in 2008. We might buy a fully grown up player, that will be able to do the job that needs doing instantly, but that does not have a much time left on a professional level. We feel that that is the right thing to do."

"Høgmo was very much in an offensive positon when he was hired, and said that RBK should try to get even more class players to sign. What are your thoughts on this?"

"The biggest challenge with getting really good players is that most of them do not want to play in Norway. We have to be realistic, but that doesent mean that we should not try."

"Lastly, the great question: Where will RBK find new players?"

"There are very few players in Norway that would be able improve RBK. Several could better the squad, but not do much more. At the same time we must be principled when buying non-Eu players. But I do not see any problems related to having three non-EU players in the squad, even though we will only be allowed to use two in each match," Rune Bratseth said and thereby finished the interview.

footnote:
some of the players that RBK are supposedly evaluating:
Patrice Bernier (mf, Tromsø)
Olivier Occean (f, Odd)
Sigurd Rushfeldt (f, Austria Wien)
Ole Martin Årst (f, Tromsø)

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to mjoni at Vs for headsup and translation

http://fotball.aftenposten.no/nyhets...rticleID=89614
Norwegian article


Rob Friend

Article entitled "Friend considering transfer" basically has Rob giving a standard answer that there are a lot of interested clubs, that it would take a lot to leave Molde and that the important thing is to concentrate on the next game, etc...

Friend will be playing at home this weekend in the second leg of the relegation playoff against Moss to determine if Molde will remain in the Norwegian Tippeligaen. Molde won the first leg, away.

Friend was fifth in scoring in the Tippeligaen this year with ten goals in a 26 game league season.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Molde (Rob Friend) at home defeated Moss 2-0 today in the second game of their playoff to remain in the Norwegian Tippeligaen.

Friend scored in the 61st minute to give Molde the lead. The question now remains if Friend will stay in Molde or seek greener pastures.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Sigma at Vs for headsup

Soccer dreams are made of this
Edmonton keeper eyes global opportunities

Dan Barnes, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Thursday, December 15, 2005

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourna...102e81&k=32212

With rose-coloured glasses strapped to his bald head, Lars Hirschfeld can see Canada in the World Cup of soccer, perhaps in 2010 but more realistically not until 2014.

And if he squints really hard, the Edmonton-born goalkeeper can see himself between the pipes.

But the picture remains quite fuzzy because the 27-year-old is focused not on Canada, but on Norway, and not on 2010, but on 2006. His first concern is the opportunity in front of him, a chance to start in goal next year for Norway's biggest and richest pro team, Rosenborg, which is in a rebuilding mode after its 13-year run as league champion ended in disappointment this season.

If he displaces Espen Johnsen as No. 1 keeper and the team re-establishes its mastery as quickly as he expects it will, Hirschfeld will be playing Champions League soccer in perhaps two years.

If he's successful there, the contract offers he fields will be much more enticing than the ones that have led him on an odyssey from Edmonton through Germany to England with Tottenham and Scotland with Dundee United. And, of course, Canada's national team would come calling again, too.

"Right now, I'm really focusing on the club because that's what pays the bills," Hirschfeld said Wednesday.

"International is just an honour thing. You come in and you do it. I want to play in the biggest games.

I want to play in Champions League. After UEFA Cup, that's the next one I'd love to be in."

After running out of real opportunities in Great Britain, Hirschfeld jump-started his career by playing well for a smaller Norwegian team, Tromso, in league and UEFA Cup qualifying games this year. He wound up with the league's best goals-against average and listened to post-season offers from Swedish, Norwegian and German teams before signing with Rosenborg on Nov. 15.

He doesn't start training with his new team until January in Spain, so he's home in Edmonton for the holiday season, although still busy. He's launching an instructional business, Top Corner Goalkeeper Academy, with a clinic on Dec. 19 at the Clareview indoor facility, and helping out friend Frank Saporito with the St. Francis Xavier high school soccer academy.

Hirschfeld doesn't want to focus so much on his career path that he forgets how important it is for Canadian kids to receive the top-level instruction he didn't get himself until he went to Europe.

"I just had my father (Fred), who was very patient and had a good eye for the game and just told me to enjoy it. He was always there. He never played pro but he played as a keeper coming out of Germany. As a kid I watched him playing church league soccer in net. He was 44 years old or something in the pipes. Playing with a broken arm once, I remember. Nuts, you know. Watching him rubbed off on me."

He also kept tabs on national team goalkeepers Craig Forrest and Paul Dolan, of course, and watched Forrest stand on his head against Brazil at Commonwealth Stadium in 1994.

Six years later Hirschfeld made his national team debut and after starring in the 2002 Gold Cup, he was everybody's pick as Canada's goalie of the future.

But that was under Holger Osieck. When Frank Yallop took over as head coach, he went with Pat Onstad on the World Cup 2006 qualifying trail and Hirschfeld found himself on the outside.

"He knows Pat, he brings him in, that's how it goes. I get dethroned by default. It stings a little bit when a guy says I've never seen you play and you never get a shot to prove yourself. It stings when you only play the one qualifier and that's my stint for the World Cup."

Yallop knows it rankled Hirschfeld, but the head coach hasn't written the goalie out of the national team picture.

"He found a home (in Tromso), he did fantastically well and he got a great move out of it. It's been great for his career," said Yallop. "I expect Lars to be knocking on the door, trying to get the goalkeeping job. But there is competition and that's healthy. You never know what's going to happen ... But he's only 27. He's got plenty of time to establish himself."

They say goalies can play into their late 30s and Hirschfeld envisions himself doing that, even though it requires putting up with the distasteful politics and heartless business moves that come with the territory. On balance though, he knows that his is a great lifestyle. No glasses required.

"In its pure shape, when you're in the field and you're not thinking of anything else, you've got 60,000 or 70,000 fans there and you can't hear the guy 10 feet away from you, in moments like that you just step back and go 'wow.' "

[Joe MacCarthy]

Ali Gerba finally signs with IFK Goteborg instead of false alarm with AIK.
http://www.ifkgoteborg.se/modules/ex...%F6r+Bl%E5vitt


Ali Gerba

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to RosenborgFan at Xtratime for headsup

Hirschfeld to be main goalkeeper
By Håvard Lindheim, 27 March 2006, 10:51
http://www.rosenborg.info/article/4333

Lars Hirschfeld has been given a good reward for his efforts during the friendlies this winter. Sunday, he was selected as the main choice between the posts.


Photo: Thomas Karlsen

So far it has been a very close duel between Hirschfeld and Espen Johnsen. The two candidates have so far this winter been playing about equally much in the ten friendlies: Hirschfeld has been guarding the net for five and a half games, while Johnsen has been there for the remaining four and a half. In addition, the last named played the two games against Zenit St. Petersburg. Both have conceded four goals.

For now, Lars Hirschfeld has pulled the longest straw. He will be the main goalkeeper for the season, and will be honing his shape by acting as the last man in the friendlies against IFK Göteborg on Sunday, and against Viking the next Sunday.

The Canadian played very well for Tromsø both in the league and in the UEFA cup last autumn, and was promised a fair fight for the keeper spot when RBK collected him free as a Bosman player before Christmas. The 27-year old is, overall, a very good goalkeeper. Perhaps lacking some of the extreme skills Johnsen posesses, he still compensates by being extremely level-headed, and by communicating well with the defensive line in front of him. In other words, Hirschfeld shall contribute to the security in the back lines, where a lot of uncertainty was witnessed last season.

"He wants clear guidelines on how the keeper and the defence shall cooperate. Lars is a type of goalkeeper that knows what areas he needs to practice in, and he has a clear option on his own skills. It seems that he likes to take responsibility, and that is challenging and educating for the rest of us," keeper coach Jørn Jamtfall tells local Trondheim newspaper Adresseavisa.

And hence, for the first time since his debut season in 2002, Espen Johnsen will be placed on the bench more or less permanently. Together with the third goalkeeper Alexander Lund Hansen he will put pressure on Hirschfeld, 'forcing' him to keep his prestations on a top level.

[Joe MacCarthy]

"Lars gives us stability"
By Håvard Lindheim, 31 March 2006
http://www.rosenborg.info/article/4342

It is the degree of confidence and the verbal work that makes Lars Hirschfeld the preferred goalkeeper in competition with Espen Johnsen.

Hirschfeld to be main goalkeeper (27/03/06)

"It was a very, very close and even duel. If we had went for Espen, that too had been fine," Per-Mathias Høgmo tells rosenborg.info.

But last Sunday, Hirschfeld was the one chosen for the mission as main goalkeeper.

"What made Lars come out as the winner, is that he has been more stable than Espen. Especially in the offensive part with the ball in the feet. Espen is improving, but this field still separates them," Høgmo says.

The 27-year old from Canada is know for the way he always commands his defense.

"He is very good at communicating with the back four. He acts wise, and has a good head for tactical judgements. He is very good at reading the game. On the whole, stability is a key factor when describing Lars," the RBK coach ends.

[Joe MacCarthy]

With headsup by Starcraft at Xtratime and Start fan in exile at Vs. Tks
http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2006/04/07/463141.html


Olivier Occean voted by coaches as top foreign player in Norway, with a huge accompanying photo and headline "Here is Norway's best foreigner". At least I think that word says foreigner.

Here are the results of thirteen Norwegian clubs' coaches rankings of the top foreign players in the league. Each coach made their top three choices for best foreign player. 3 points for a first place vote, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd

The coaches voted Olivier Occean as the best foreign player in the league, Rob Friend was 5th, Patrice Bernier 6th and Lars Hirschfeld wasn't far off 6th with 4 points (two second place votes).

Top Foreign Player
1. Olivier Occean 21 points
2. Koren 14
3. Arason 12
4. Gislason 8
5. Rob Friend 7
6. Patrice Bernier 5
Lars Hirschfeld 4

And here is the Norwegian NT coach saying that Rob Friend is irreplaceable to Molde and their tactics. The article is in Norwegian.

http://pub.tv2.no/nettavisen/fxt/article602798.ece

*****************************************************

Interesting in the light of Rosenborg's coach (former Tromso coach) calling Patrice Bernier the best midfielder in the Tippeligaen.

Also Lars Hirschfeld won the early season battle over Norway Number one keeper Espen Johnsen and Kenny Stamatopoulos battling top rated Knut Borch at Tromso.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Here are some other rankings where Canadians are involved. Again the coaches voting are using the same scoring system as above.

Top Striker
1. Årst 23 points
2. Olivier Occean 13
3. Sæternes 11
4. Helstad 9
5. Rob Friend 6


Olivier Occean
http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2006/04/06/463007.html

Top Keeper
1. Arni Gautur Arason 27 points
2. Lars Hirschfeld 26
3. Espen Johnsen 6
3. Rune A. Jarstein 6


Lars Hirschfeld
http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2006/04/11/463455.html

Top Team
1. Lillestrøm (Olivier Occean) 27 points
2. Rosenborg (Lars Hirschfeld) 26
3. Vålerenga 12
4. Brann 3
5. Lyn 2
6. Viking 1

Top Coach
1. Per-Mathias Høgmo Rosenborg (Lars Hirschfeld) 21 points
2. Uwe Rösler Lillestrøm (Olivier Occean) 11.5
3. Prahl 8
4. Nordlie 7
5. Rekdal 6

As stated above, top coach Per-Mathias Høgmo previously named his former player at Tromso, Patrice Bernier, the best midfielder in the Tippeligaen.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Daniel at Vs for headsup

Hutch at home in Copenhagen
(FIFA.com) 12 Dec 2006
http://fifa.com/en/mens/index/0,2527...ticleid=127652


Hutchinson has proved a big hit in Copenhagen. (AFP)

Despite exiting the competition, FC Copenhagen - who eliminated Ajax in the preliminary rounds - made an impressive debut in the Champions League group stages, amassing a creditable seven points and even managing to beat Manchester United and Celtic and draw with Benfica while maintaining a remarkable unbeaten record at home.

During this inaugural campaign, few in the team from the Danish capital shone more brightly than their dynamic, box-to-box midfielder, Atiba Hutchinson. In a squad comprised almost primarily of native Scandinavians, it is safe to say that Hutchinson - the product of two Trinidadian parents and born in Canada - stands out in more ways than one. In fact, Atiba and Razak Pimpong of Ghana are the only players in the squad not born in Scandinavia.

Nevertheless, he distinguished himself in the Group F campaign with searing runs into attack and even grabbed himself a goal in the impressive 3-1 victory over already-qualified Celtic on the final matchday. In doing so, Hutchinson became only the second Canadian in history to score in the UEFA Champions League. Tomasz Radzinski holds the honour of being the first during his final season with Anderlecht in 2001 when he struck five times to help the Belgians emerge from their group section.

'Hutch', however, holds the distinction of being the first Canadian-born player to score in the competition, as Radzinksi is a naturalised Canuck, born in Poznan, Poland.

A northern trajectory
Born in Ontario, Hutchinson caught the eye early on with bags of pace and a skilful technique that reflected his roots in the Caribbean. At only 18 years of age and still in secondary school, he represented Canada at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, where, unfortunately, the Canucks were returned home with no points to show for their efforts.

Once back in his homeland, the player turned down scholarship offers with top University sides in the US to try his luck with pro outfit Toronto Lynx of the now-defunct Canadian A-league. After only four games with the team - where he was used mainly as an attacking midfielder - the lure of Europe called him away. After successful trials with Osters IF in the Swedish top flight, he signed a contract at the start of 2003.

Just two months before, he had turned up with the Canadian U-20 national team for a second go at a FIFA U-20 World Cup, this time in the United Arab Emirates. He was determined to show his mettle as a lynchpin of the Canadian midfield, and thanks largely to his sturdy play, the Canucks ran through to the quarter-finals and only just missed out on the semis after losing to eventual finalists Spain in extra-time. His performances were such that Atiba - named to the UAE 2003's all-star eleven - earned trials with Udinese in Italy and courted interest from a number of other European clubs. He also made his senior debut with the full Canadian national that same year while still a teenager.

Deciding instead to stay in Sweden, where he had become something of a media darling, Atiba moved on to local powers Helinsgborgs IF following Osters' relegation before finally heading for FC Copenhagen - Danish champions four times out of the last six seasons - in January of 2006.


A future force for Canada, the 23-year-old already has over 20 caps. (AFP)

Bright future for Canada
In fine form for Copenhagen this season (which is now in its winter break with the capital club seven points clear at the top), Hutchinson, now 23, is a full fledged senior international for Canada (with over 20 caps and two goals) and a player well-equipped to help the side find some positive results in the CONCACAF region.

After qualifying for their one and only FIFA World Cup back in 1986, Canada have failed - with the notable exception of their 2000 Gold Cup title - to make waves on the international scene.

However, with a talented stable of players led by Hutchinson, Dwayne DeRosario, Iain Hume and Radzinski, the future is looking bright. Next year's Gold Cup - the CONCACAF region's championship - will take place in June, with the prize for the winner a place at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. "We have a raft of very talented players like Atiba (Hutchinson)… and if we get our organisation down and play like we know we can, there is no reason we can't find a way to the top of the heap in CONCACAF," DeRosario - who recently won the MLS championship with Houston Dynamo - told FIFA.com.

If his performances in the 2006 Champions League and another rampaging run for Copenhagen in their domestic championship are anything to go by, the tireless Hutchinson may well be the key to a Canuck revival.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Hirschfeld prioritizes Rosenborg
By Thomas Myren, 22 May 200
http://www.rosenborg.info/article/5217

Lars Hirschfeld has rejected playing the North-American championship in June.


Photo: Thomas Karlsen

"The situation demanded that I stay. We just have two keepers, and I have responsibility for not leaving Rosenborg in shortage of keepers. It would have been affecting the team too much in such an important period," Hirschfeld told rosenborg.info.

He made his comeback for Canada in the 3-0 win over Bermuda in March, and was wanted for the squad for the Gold Cup in USA 6-24 June.

"The tournament is not being played on international dates. If we go to the next round, I don't just miss the Fredrikstad game, but that could be 4-5 matches. That's unacceptable - a lot to ask for one player," the Rosenborg goalie thinks.

The 28-year-old would probably just become back-up for Toronto keeper Greg Sutton anyway.

"That you should ask the coach. But that had no importance for my decision," Hirschfeld claims.

He hopes he does not close the door for future play for Canada under his former coach in Vancouver Whitecaps, Dale Mitchell.

"I don't know his intentions for me, but if I hadn't been missing games for Rosenborg, I would have gone," Lars Hirschfeld ends.

[Vic]

I remember when Hutchinson used to play in my fav team here in Sweden, Helsingborg. He's just pure class!!